just ash

chapter 7

"You're lucky I love you."

Ash grumbled as she lowered herself onto a bench in front of the club her and Susie had just been kicked out of. 

After ending their call with Namjoon, they had gone straight to the bar for some water.  Ash had turned her back for two seconds, and when her attention returned to Susie, the blue-haired woman had been aggressively hitting on the cute bartender behind the counter.  Although Ash had no idea what words they were exchanging, she could tell that the woman Susie had been hitting on was not interested.  Ash tried her best to diffuse the situation, but the bartender didn't speak enough English, and Ash didn't speak enough Korean, and long story short, well...

Now they were on a bench outside.

Susie sighed and then plopped next to Ash and leaned over to lay her head on Ash's thighs. 

"I'm sorry I'm such a dumpster fire," Susie sniffled.  Ash shushed her and ran her fingers through her friend's hair. 

"Like I said, you're lucky I love you."  Sitting next to the busy street had Ash realizing that she was still pretty drunk, too.  The lights that surrounded them from cars, streetlamps, and business fronts swirled and blurred together, and Ash squeezed her eyes closed and gently slapped her cheeks a couple of times.  When she opened her eyes, it only seemed worse.

Well, that didn't work.

A buzzing came from her back pocket, and she shifted to pull her phone out.  Her thighs stuck to the bench as she did and she grimaced, not wanting to think about what had happened to make it that way.

Her heart picked up its pace when she saw that Namjoon had texted her.

Namjoon: We are here!

We?

She looked up to see a sleek black car pull up to the curb.  The windows were completely blacked out, but it was almost as though she could sense Namjoon in there.  The car stopped in front of them and put on their hazards, and Ash's heart leapt into her throat as she tapped Susie's shoulder rapidly.

"Susie! He's here!"  Ash hissed, but Susie only groaned.

"Ash, I don't feel so good."  As Ash stood, she gently held up Susie's head and helped her sit up. 

Oof, she is going to feel it tomorrow morning.

"I know, hon, but we need to get home.  You can take a nap when we get there."

"Ohhhh, a nap.  Yay!"  Susie teetered, and Ash squatted a bit to wrap an arm around her waist.  By some miracle, she led the girl to the car's back door, and she took a deep breath in an attempt to ease her racing heart and reached for the handle. 

But there was nothing that could have done to prepare her body for what was in the car's back seat.

Ash tightened her grip on the car door so that she didn't topple over.  There was Namjoon, sprawled comfortably in the spacious backseat, his legs bent but spread wide, his body leaning back against the black leather casually.  Oversized sweatpants adorned his long legs, and a gigantic sweatshirt kept his body's features hidden.  But that wasn't what had Ash weak in the knees.  She couldn't care less what the man was wearing.

Someone should have warned her that Namjoon's smile was one of the most overwhelmingly radiant sights to grace this planet.

Ash couldn't think, couldn't move.  She could only stare blankly as Namjoon said something – what, she didn't know.  He patted the seat next to him, and then gestured to the front seat.  But Ash only felt her mouth pop open, a look of pure idiocy surely on her face.  The only thing she could comprehend at that moment was dimples.